SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley Electric Light Department board won’t be caught off guard by any more payout requests in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Following an alleged request by ex-general manager Wayne Doerpholz of $471,000 for 35 years worth of accrued vacation and sick time, the board has erased excess vacation time accruals for three other employees to comply with the department’s personnel policies, according to Anne S. Awad, chairwoman of the municipal utility’s board.
The actions come as part of an investigation by state Inspector General Glenn Cunha who found evidence to suggest that “some – but not all – employees carried over and ‘banked’ vacation time indefinitely, thereby amassing large vacation balances over time,” according to May 31 letter from Cunha to the SHELD board.
“There were four employees, including Mr. Doerpholz who were outside the bounds of the personnel policy,” Awad said Monday. “They are now in compliance.”
Doerpholz allegedly claimed to have earned and accrued 3,248 hours of vacation leave and 3,593 hours of sick leave over a 35-year career at SHELD — accruals that would have totaled an approximately $471,000 payout when his contract expired May 31. The board did not renew his contract.
Instead, the board late last month approved paying Doerpholz $18,454, a figure that covered his accrued vacation leave and six days of work while he was still officially employed. A check was delivered to Doerpholz by a sheriff and signed for, Awad said.
Doerpholz earned a $143,228 salary during the past year and is also entitled to an annual pension in excess of $100,000 annually, according to town officials. In an interview with the Gazette last week, Doerpholz declined to comment on his employment matters on the advice of counsel, but praised his co-workers still on the job.
Awad said the three additional employees with excess vacation time accruals were well below the hours Doerpholz had amassed on the books, but still in excess of what is allowed under SHELD policies.
“The adjustments were made,” she said.
Town officials authorized SHELD to cut an $11,337 check to Doerpholz after deductions just days after the utility’s accountant, Michael Conchieri, alerted town officials in person on May 31 that they may need to authorize a check for more than $400,000 to pay out the former general manager.
“It was at my instruction to have Michael go to Town Hall and have the town prepare to pay a large amount,” Awad said. “We were preparing for all eventualities.”
South Hadley Town Administrator Michael Sullivan said the town was prepared to authorize such a payment, but needed to see a letter of approval from the board before doing so.
“We wouldn’t have cut the check until we got that,” he said.
Later that day, Cunha’s letter to the board detailing his analysis of SHELD’s payout policies as they relate to Doerpholz became public. The letter was also sent to town officials, including Sullivan, who said he asked SHELD for a recalculation of Doerpholz’s accrued time.
In his letter, Cunha wrote that Doerpholz’s maximum vacation payout should be $15,149 based on SHELD’s policies and that he was not entitled to any sick leave payout. He cautioned the board to exercise due diligence and that paying Doerpholz money not owed to him would be a “waste of public funds.”
Cunha found that SHELD never had a designated human resources manager and that two employees, including Doerpholz, handled the paperwork for ingoing and outgoing employees and neither removed excess accruals that violated the carryover policy.
“Doerpholz as manager had the authority and responsibility to enforce the policy and to therefore make the required adjustments,” Cunha wrote.
The letter prompted a June 2 emergency executive session of the board to discuss “a time-sensitive legal issue.” A memorandum from Awad to the utility’s interim co-managers dated that day and obtained by the Gazette, states that the board voted to pay Doerpholz $18,454, after consulting with legal counsel and using Cunha’s analysis of records at the agency.
Awad said it is her understanding that the state inspector general’s investigation at SHELD is still open while the long-awaited results of an outside audit of the municipal utility are expected to be presented publicly next month as current board members continue to advance reforms at SHELD.
“I’m sure in the next year, the board is going to be looking at every section of the personnel manual,” Awad said.
In a related development, the board on Thursday is expected to interview a search consultant that it may retain to assist with the hiring of a new general manager. The department is currently being run by interim co-managers Paul Byrne and Ed Morrin.
Staff Writer Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.